1996–97 California Golden Bears men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 1996–97 California Golden Bears Basketball Script California.svg 200px Pacific-10 Conference Pac-10 18 23–9 12–6 Ben Braun 1st Billy Kennedy 4th Harmon Gym NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen The 1996–97 California Golden Bears men's basketball team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 1996–97 season. Led by head coach Ben Braun, the Bears finished the regular season with a 12–6 record in the Pac-10, placing them in a tie for second. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, where they made a run to the Sweet Sixteen. The Golden Bears defeated PrincetonCal Escapes Upset-Minded Princeton https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/memories/final4/articles/calprince.htm The Washington Post March 14, 1997 June 6, 2021 and VillanovaVillanova Falls Under California Spell, 75-68 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-03-16-sp-38981-story.html The Los Angeles Times March 16, 1997 June 6, 2021 before falling to North CarolinaNorth Carolina and Louisville Move On https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/22/sports/north-carolina-and-louisville-move-on.html The New York Times March 22, 1997 June 6, 2021 in the East Regional semifinal. The team finished the season with an overall record of 23–9. https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~landay/sports/cal/basketball/1997/basketball.html Cal Bears Basketball 1996-97 www.cs.cmu.edu Roster 1996 California Golden Bears y Alfred Grigsby 4 F 6 9 Sr Ed Gray y 22 G 6 3 210 Sr Riverside, CA Randy Duck y 23 G 6 0 Sr Tony Gonzalez y 34 F 6 5 235 Jr Huntington Beach, CA Sean Marks y 40 FC 6 10 245 Jr Auckland, New Zealand Michael Stewart basketball y 44 F 6 10 220 Sr Sacramento, CA Ben Braun Billy Kennedy (Southeastern Louisiana) Schedule and results |- !colspan=9 style=California Golden Bears white| Regular season Nov 25, 1996 yes yes Iowa Lahaina Civic Center Maui, Hawaii Maui Invitational Tournament ESPN 75–59 1–0 Nov 26, 1996 yes yes Kansas 2 Lahaina Civic Center Maui, Hawaii Maui Invitational Tournament 67–85 1–1 Nov 27, 1996 yes yes UMass 17 Lahaina Civic Center Maui, Hawaii Maui Invitational Tournament 59–55 2–1 Nov 30, 1996 yes 1996 men Texas Southern Tigers Texas Southern Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 97–60 3–1 Dec 3, 1996 yes Illinois Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 89–88 2OT 6,578 4–1 Dec 8, 1996 yes yes Maryland Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland 64–80 4–2 Dec 9, 1996 yes yes 1996 men Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State U.S. Airways Arena Landover, Maryland 78–45 5–2 Dec 20, 1996 yes yes 1996 men Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey 76–63 6–2 Dec 23, 1996 yes 1996 men San Francisco Dons San Francisco Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 78–63 7–2 Dec 28, 1996 yes 1996 men Howard Bison Howard Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 86–61 8–2 Dec 29, 1996 yes 1996 men Cal Poly Mustangs Cal Poly Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 77–59 9–2 Jan 2, 1997 yes Arizona 9 McKale Center Tucson, Arizona 80–81 9–3 0–1 Jan 4, 1997 yes 1996 men Arizona State Sun Devils Arizona State ASU Activity Center Tempe, Arizona 60–64 9–4 0–2 Jan 9, 1997 USC Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 83–71 10–4 1–2 Jan 11, 1997 UCLA Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 56–64 10–5 1–3 Jan 16, 1997 yes 1996 men Oregon State Beavers Oregon State Gill Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon 80–70 11–5 2–3 Jan 18, 1997 yes 1996 men Oregon Ducks Oregon 24 McArthur Court Eugene, Oregon 73–62 12–5 3–3 Jan 23, 1997 Washington State Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 77–75 2OT 13–5 4–3 Jan 25, 1997 Washington Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 80–52 14–5 5–3 Jan 29, 1997 Stanford 15 Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 70–64 15–5 6–3 Feb 6, 1997 yes UCLA Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California 71–68 16–5 7–3 Feb 8, 1997 yes USC L.A. Sports Arena Los Angeles, California 85–93 16–6 7–4 Feb 13, 1997 Oregon Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 73–66 17–6 8–4 Feb 15, 1997 Oregon State Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 90–68 18–6 9–4 Feb 20, 1997 yes 25 Washington Bank of America Arena Seattle, Washington 78–67 19–6 10–4 Feb 22, 1997 yes 25 Washington State Friel Court Pullman, Washington 87–89 19–7 10–5 Mar 1, 1997 yes Stanford 25 Maples Pavilion Stanford, California 63–73 19–8 10–6 Mar 6, 1997 Arizona State Harmon Gym Berkeley, California 84–66 20–8 11–6 Mar 8, 1997 yes Arizona 12 Cow Palace Daly City, California 79–77https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-03-09-sp-36543-story.html No. 12 Arizona Falls to Cal March 9, 1997 The Los Angeles Times June 6, 2021 21–8 12–6 |- !colspan=9 style=California Golden Bears white| NCAA Tournament Mar 13, 1997 yes yes 5 E Princeton 12 E Lawrence Joel Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina First round 55–52 22–8 Mar 15, 1997 yes yes 5 E Villanova 20 4 E Lawrence Joel Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina Second Round 75–68 23–8 Mar 21, 1997 yes yes 5 E North Carolina 4 1 E Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen 57–63 23–9 Pacific E East Rankings 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings Team players drafted into the NBA 1997 NBA draft California Golden Bears Round Pick Player NBA team 1 22 Ed Gray Atlanta Hawks References https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/california/1997-schedule.html 1996-97 University of California Golden Bears Schedule and Results - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Category:California Golden Bears men's basketball seasons California California California Golden Bear California Golden Bear